The economy of ancient Greece was characterized by the extreme importance of importing goods, all the more so because of the relative poverty of Greece's soil. Beginning in the 6th century BC, craftsmanship and commerce (principally maritime) developed and became increasingly more important in the classical period.
The idea of an "economy" as it is understood today is relatively anachronistic when used to refer to ancient Greece. The Greek word oikonomia (οἰκονομία) designates mainly the oikos (οἶκος), meaning the home or hearth. Thus Xenophon's dialogue entitled Oeconomicus is concerned with household management and agriculture. The Greeks had no precise term to designate the processes of production and exchange. The economist Murray Rothbard, however, notes that ancient Greek philosophers grappled with questions that today would be identified as economy.
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“Quidquid luce fuit tenebris agit: but also the other way around. What we experience in dreams, so long as we experience it frequently, is in the end just as much a part of the total economy of our soul as anything we “really” experience: because of it we are richer or poorer, are sensitive to one need more or less, and are eventually guided a little by our dream-habits in broad daylight and even in the most cheerful moments occupying our waking spirit.”
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To merry London, my most kindly nurse,
That to me gave this life’s first native source;
Though from another place I take my name,
An house of ancient fame.”
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